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Education Programs About War

“America’s Longest War: Vietnam, 1945-1975,” Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers, University of Miami, Summer 2005 (FS-50053-04).

Although the emphasis of this project was the broad diplomatic, political, and military context of the Vietnam War, the seminar did look at the nature of the warfare in the countryside and efforts at pacification, both of which involved American soldiers on a day-to-day basis.

“Trajan’s Column: Narratives of War, Civilization, and Commemoration in the Roman Empire,” Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers, American Academy in Rome, Summer 2006 (FS-50084-05).

This seminar used a famous imperial victory monument to investigate, among other topics, the Roman army at war, the social and economic aspects of conquest, and how war was commemorated.

“America and the Great War: An Interdisciplinary Seminar in Literature and History,” Summer Seminar for School Teachers, University of Kansas, Summer 2010 (FV-50238-09).

This broadly-conceived study of American participation in World War I included key sections on wartime mobilization and the experiences of American soldiers, using historical and literary sources.

This summer institute, on the subject of Washington’s character, career, and legacy, devoted significant attention to his military service. First held in 2005.

“NEH Enduring Questions Course on ‘Is There Such a Thing as a Just War?’”, Kean University (AQ-50184-10).

This course considered classic humanities questions about justifications for going to war.

“The USS Constitution and the War of 1812,” Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for School Teachers, USS Constitution Museum, Summer 2013 (BH-50529-12).

This workshop considered not only the broad context of the war with Great Britain, but also looked closely at the lives and experiences of the officers and sailors who served in the US navy.

“World War I in the Middle East,” Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers, Georgetown University, Summer 2014 (FS-50353-13).

The experience of World War I is central to this seminar, which devotes considerable attention to the lives of Middle Eastern soldiers and the impact of the war on the civilian population. First held at American University in 2012.

“On Hallowed Ground: Gettysburg in History and Memory,” Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for School Teachers, Gettysburg College, Summer 2014 (BH-50587-13).

In addition to looking closely at soldiers’ and officers’ experiences during the three days of the epic Civil War battle, the workshop investigates Lincoln’s justification for military sacrifice in the Gettysburg Address, and the ways that the war remembered by veterans and civilians in the decades that followed.

“The San Francisco Bay Area Home Front in World War II,” Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for School Teachers, University of California-Berkeley, Summer 2014 (BH-50576-13).

While more a study of economic mobilization, labor, and the civilian home front during World War II, this project also looks at coastal defenses in California and meets with a group of WWII veterans aboard the USS Red Oak.

March 2014 Council Recommendation: “NEH Enduring Questions Course on Concepts of Peace in Western and Eastern Cultures,” Georgia State College and University (AQ-51123; NOT YET FUNDED).

This course, for cadets and civilian students one of the nation’s military colleges, would look at justifications for war as well as conditions necessary for peace.

There are other Landmarks Workshops on specific military events and experiences; there are two more EQ projects recommended in March 2014 on war/peace.